Although my three favorite teams are USA, Argentina and Germany, and I will root for them to win – I think the probability of Brazil winning is approximately 40%, which is huge given that 32 teams are participating.

Here are my predictions for the football world cup that begins tomorrow:

A friend on chessbomb.com asked a very interesting puzzle. Here it is and my attempt to solve it:

There are 15 balls, one of them has an odd weight (either light or heavy) and all the rest have equal weight. We know one of the 14 balls with the correct weight (good ball). Using 3 weighings on a beam balance we need to figure the odd ball out. We do not need to know if the odd ball is heavy or light.

My attempt at the solution
Let us suppose that the known good ball is {1}

If {1,2,3,4,5} = {6,7,8,9,10} then odd ball is {11,12,13,14,15}

If {1,11} = {12,13} then odd ball is {14,15 }

If {1} = {14} then odd ball is {15}

If {1} > {14} then light odd ball is {14}

If {1} < {14} then heavy odd ball is {14}

If {1,11} > {12,13} then odd ball is {11} (heavy) or (12,13} (light)

If {12} = {13} then heavy odd ball is {11}

If {12} > {13} then light odd ball is {13}

If {12} < {13} then light odd ball is {12}

If {1,11} < {12,13} then odd ball is {11} (light) or (12,13} (heavy)

If {12} = {13} then light odd ball is {11}

If {12} > {13} then heavy odd ball is {12}

If {12} < {13} then heavy odd ball is {13}

If {1,2,3,4,5} > {6,7,8,9,10} then odd ball is {2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}

If {2,3,6} = {4,5,7} then light odd ball is {8,9,10}

If {8} = {9} then light odd ball is {10}

If {8} > {9} then light odd ball is {9}

If {8} < {9} then light odd ball is {8}

If {2,3,6} > {4,5,7} then {2,3} is heavy odd ball or {7} is light odd ball

If {2} = {3} then light odd ball is {7}

If {2} > {3} then heavy odd ball is {2}

If {2} < {3} then heavy odd ball is {3}

If {2,3,6} < {4,5,7} then {4,5} is heavy odd ball or {6} is light odd ball

If {4} = {5} then light odd ball is {6}

If {4} > {5} then heavy odd ball is {4}

If {4} < {5} then heavy odd ball is {5}

If {1,2,3,4,5} < {6,7,8,9,10} then ball is {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}

If {2,3,6} = {4,5,7} then heavy odd ball is {8,9,10}

If {8} = {9} then heavy odd ball is {10}

If {8} > {9} then heavy odd ball is {8}

If {8} < {9} then heavy odd ball is {9}

If {2,3,6} > {4,5,7} then {4,5} is light odd ball or {6} is heavy odd ball

If {4} = {5} then heavy odd ball is {6}

If {4} > {5} then light odd ball is {5}

If {4} < {5} then light odd ball is {4}

If {2,3,6} < {4,5,7} then {2,3} is light odd ball or {7} is heavy odd ball

For what it’s worth, I actually like that Mariah Carey Christmas song. I know I’ll take some heat for that, but whatever, I don’t really care. It’s a well-crafted pop song (if that’s possible), which doesn’t sound dated (it’s nearly 20 years old) like most pop music does after like two weeks.

Side note: Mariah Carey could live off the “All I Want For Christmas is You” royalties alone. It’s impossible to chart worldwide royalty numbers, but it is the best-selling Christmas single of all time (12 million copies) on the best-selling Christmas album of all time (more than 15 million copies), and in Great Britain alone, Carey is projected to rake in close to $750,000 this year for that one song.

But if all you want for Christmas is a little more substance in your Christmas music, then this blog’s for you. Below are 12 pieces of classical…

The guard has been changed at the top of the chess world. Last week in Chennai, India, 22-year-old Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen easily toppled defending world champion Viswanathan Anand of India. The challenger won three games without a loss, plus seven draws, ending the match two games before its scheduled length of 12 games.

Carlsen’s domination renders unnecessary any extensive punditry on the match itself. He has been the world’s top-ranked player for two years already while Anand’s results have tailed off, as those of players on the wrong side of forty tend to do. It is true that Anand made quite a few unforced errors in his losses, but as I said before the match, Anand was fighting not only a stronger player but also the tidal forces of time and history. Carlsen is a force of nature whose time has come and there was little Anand could…